[Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of HowdeeCoyote. HowdeeCoyote is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.]
Tame
Chapter 1
High in the sky, beyond cotton-like clouds and hazy rays of light, the sun rose. Sweat ran down the teacher's skin as if the droplets were racing. She blotted her face with a napkin and fiddled with the ceiling fan, flicking the lights on and off.
"Haruno-sensei," A student interrupted, "you have to pull on the string."
Sakura, distracted by the heat, offered them a thankful smile. "Right, of course."
She clambered down from the desk, the fan's breeze cooling her flushed cheeks.
"On your desks are donated medical kits. This is a gift from your village, and I am here to show you how to use them. Go ahead and peek inside."
The war had left fewer shinobi and a mountain of duty. Commoners bore the brunt of the workload. Intern, the hospital began to overflow with avoidable injuries.
A boy, intimidated by the assortment of bandages and strange objects, held up an item. "What's this?"
"A finger splint," Sakura explained.
A girl speaks up from across the room. She'd rifled through her package without care, letting the items tumble over the tops of her desk. "We don't need this stuff,"
"You don't bleed?" Sakura questioned. "You don't break bones?"
The girl frowned. "We don't bleed and break bones like ninja do."
Sakura understood their hopelessness was born from ignorance. Civilians often underestimated themselves. Regardless, basic medical care was crucial.
As Sakura continued, a boy gazed out the window, sighing. Konoha, once scarred by battle, was now new and shiny, its history scrubbed clean. Peace had brought dullness. At their age, Sakura had already seen more horror and gore than they would ever see. Her normal would never be their normal. She worked hard to ensure that.
Suddenly, a dark figure caught his eye. The crowd parted for him like repelling magnets. Though his walk was unfamiliar, the boy recognized the clan symbol—the red and white fan was a rare sight since Pain's assault. His heart pounded.
"Is that... Sasuke Uchiha?" he blurted, interrupting Sakura.
Everyone knew of Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto was the future of their village. He was strong, the Will of Fire burned brightly in his chest against the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. Uchiha Sasuke was fast and intelligent, a brutally ruthless ninja. Haruno Sakura, was a healer with a large personality.
But it was Sasuke who held a dark allure, a man feared by nations and gods.
Sakura was at the window before he finished his question. The people on the street below shrank away from the colorless man, averting their gazes as if he were a plague. But not Sakura; never Sakura.
She stared down, eyes scanning as she pried open a window sealed shut by years of negligent repaints. A sharp burst of air whipped through the room, forcing her eyes closed and sending her hair swirling around her head like a halo.
The students jumped from their desks, drawn by curiosity and a shared sense of wonder. They all hoped to catch a glimpse of the infamous Uchiha shinobi—a man who had once been an enemy to their village, to all of them. Through a series of events they couldn't begin to comprehend, he had returned to Konoha, his crimes pardoned. Whispers of mind-control and shadowy dealings swirled through the village, adding to the enigma of his return.
Had he bribed the village with the inheritance of his clan? Did he threaten to truly harm Naruto, had his conditions not been met?
The man stopped and turned, causing a collective gasp from the students. Despite his freshly cleared record, a villainous aura clung to him. His wicked, purple eye and tough, impassive face sent several children reeling backward.
As they gaped in awe, Sakura froze, her grip on the window ledge turning her knuckles white. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. When she finally spoke, her voice cracked.
"S-Sasuke-kun!"
One year.
That's how long it'd been since Sakura had seen him. The memory of his touch lingered, a ghost of a farewell. His fingers had pressed against her forehead, a gesture so fleeting, so ephemeral, like a whispered promise. He'd come back.
Half of her body leaned out the window, hips pressed against the ledge. She tried to call out to him again, but her voice caught in her throat.
As the napkin slipped from her fingers, it drifted off like a white flag of surrender. It danced and twirled, riding the currents of the breeze. At that moment, Sasuke halted, as if her unspoken words had been heard. He turned, his gaze piercing the air, and summoned the power of amenotejikara. With a swift, calculated motion, he replaced himself with the delicate fabric.
Sasuke wasn't particularly heavy, yet the sudden, unexpected weight of his body nearly sent Sakura tumbling over the ledge. She dug her fingers into the wooden window frame.
Silence tainted the air between them as they simply stared, waiting for the other to speak. Sasuke wouldn't. Sakura couldn't.
She longed to ask about his travels. The scent of campfire smoke clung to him, a testament to nights spent under the open sky. His clothes were worn and weathered, as if he'd braved countless storms. He was taller now, leaner, a stark contrast to the boy she remembered. The same was true for her–if she were younger, she would have embraced him. Instead, she stood frozen, mirroring the stunned expressions of her students.
Sasuke was accustomed to such reactions, whether stemming from his past as a traitor or his imposing Uchiha lineage. But not from her–never from her. He tore his gaze away from Sakura's confusion and scanned the unfamiliar room, noting the cheerful posters, handmade artwork, and the lingering scent of glue.
"No way! Are you really Sasuke Uchiha?"
The outburst pulls Sakura back into reality slowly. She sees a little girl bolt forward, reaching out for Sasuke, fawning. Another one tells him to do something cool, "Like, set my desk on fire or something!"
"Can you fly?"
"Why's your eyeball so weird?"
"Are you Haruno-sensei's husband? Is that why you're holding hands?"
Blanching, Sakura looks down. Sure enough, they shared a tight grip, fingers curled. Had she gone numb? She ripped her hand away from Sasuke and sputtered. After tripping over the first sentence, she gave up and waved her finger towards the abandoned desks, settling for a power-trip. "All of you, back to your seats. I didn't say you could get up!"
The children sigh collectively and slink towards their spots, feet dragging. When the last one had settled, the woman turned towards her old teammate.
Clearing her throat, Sakura gestured towards the desk chair. It was the only adult-sized seating option. "Would you like a seat?"
"I'm not staying long."
He was moving quickly through the street before, no doubt heading towards the Hokage tower. If he were to come to Konoha for anything, it would be mission-related, or Naruto-related.
Sakura spread her lips tightly in a placating smile. "Ah, well…anything I can help with?"
"Where is Naruto?"
It was annoying, sometimes, how right she could be. Naruto would have told his best friend that he and Hinata were finally celebrating their marriage, wouldn't he? More than likely, Sasuke didn't find the news interesting enough to recall. "He left with Hinata for Cha no Kuni."
Sasuke's displeasure was evident in the way his brow dipped, and a scowl tugged at his lips. Sakura's scrutiny was interrupted by a wad of paper sent hurtling through the air, striking the man's temple with a THUNK. An eerie silence descended upon the room as the paper rolled off his shoulder and fell to the floor.
"Some ninja you are." A boy scoffed. "You can't even dodge my notes?"
Eyes blowing wide, Sakura turned sharply, feeling absolutely mortified by the students' disrespect. Swooping down to gather the crumpled sheet into her hand, she chucked it back. Hard. It smacked the kid dead center, popping him in the forehead. The force was enough to jar him from his seat and splay him out to the floor below.
Laughter erupted, but Sakura kept her expression and voice stern. "Don't throw stuff in my classroom!"
"But…" He moans from his spot on the floor. "You threw something, too!"
Sasuke's departure was both silent and unsurprising, given his tendency to vanish without word.
It was evening when Sakura heard a scratch on her front door. Pakkun, the hound, trotted in as if he owned the place, padding his little paws down the short length of her foyer. "Nice place you've got, kid. Any snacks?"
Five minutes later, Sakura shared her dining room table with Kakashi's ninken. He scarfed down on a plate of chow, which Sakura kept on hand for when Kiba and Akamaru decided their injuries didn't warrant a hospital visit. After licking his small feet, Pakkun gesture towards the parchment on his collar.
"Kakashi's got a mission for you."
The Hokage would send information via his summon if it wasn't urgent. Kakashi was always busy, and always by the book, rarely leaving paperwork for the next day. Sakura didn't complain about the short notice. Instead, she read the scroll briefly—
A mission to Tea, Genin partner, four days of travel there and back.
Before heading to bed, she placed two calls. One to the clinic, to inform them of her departure, and one to her parents, to ask them to look after her plants.
And that was it.
Memories filled Sakura as she walked the familiar road leading out of Konoha. A decorative vase now marked the spot where a stone bench once stood—a bench where her team had shared countless moments, from Sasuke's first biting remark about her being "annoying" to the bittersweet anticipation of their first mission as Team 7. She even remembered the day he'd almost kissed her, a fleeting memory of their youthful innocence.
She walked in an impatient circle, listening to the clack of her sandals on the cobblestone. The sound reminds her of the night Sasuke defected. Her eyes glass over and the moment comes rushing in.
Regret walked hand-in-hand with humanity. Very few people lived life without it. For Sakura, however, it seemed as much a part of her as Happiness, as Sadness. Sakura wished she were kinder to Naruto. She wished she'd focused more on shinobi practice, instead of only theoretics and knowledge. She wished she'd have begged Kakashi and Naruto to listen to her, when she knew something was wrong with Sasuke.
She wished she could have saved him.
"Sakura,"
The voice was not inside of her head and was much too deep in tone to be a memory. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, like spikes trying to shield her—a reaction to when Sasuke had knocked her out all those years ago.
He stood behind Sakura in his striped, brown poncho. His hair was tousled, but not from sleep. The man looked severely lacking in rest, what with the dark circles under his eyes. Large wrappings kept his fringe down, covering his new, colorful eye just so.
No, not new—it had been over a year.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun." Sakura greeted, trying to sound as if she weren't in fight or flight. There were only so many times one could meet at the village gates under bad circumstances…right?
Sakura moved to look at the watch that dangled from her pack. The sun was just barely peeking from beyond the horizon. It wasn't unusual for Genin to show up late, but it certainly didn't leave a good impression.
"I'm heading to Cha no Kuni. Genin escort mission." She explained when Sasuke made no move to continue out of the village. The quiet was uncomfortable, and she couldn't stop the urge to fill it. "They're running a little late."
"I'm the Genin you're escorting."
By default, Sakura's Jōnin rank meant she was in charge. It is a choice to let Sasuke take the lead. They moved quickly and efficiently, taking to the treetops so they could meet dawn head on. In proper conditions, it took two good days of traveling to get to Cha no Kuni. If Sasuke was alone it would be even less; He was much faster than Sakura, after all.
Despite having had only a few hours of sleep, Sasuke's mind remained focused and sharp. His late-night meeting with Kakashi had revealed the emergence of mysterious chakra beyond the northern border of the Land of Frost. Though it could not be determined, both men recognized the potential threat of this ancient, Otsutsuki-linked magic. Naruto's assistance in investigating was necessary, despite his friend's recent marriage.
Kakashi insisted on maintaining peace with the Elders by enforcing their strict travel restrictions on Sasuke. His parole requirements were strict; he was not to leave Fire country without escort. This required company to Tea Country before he could join with Naruto and head to Frost.
However, the omission of Sasuke's name from Sakura's mission briefing was unnecessary, and only served to irritate him further.
"I made us a bento."
"You seemed unaware that I would be your traveling partner."
Wincing, Sakura clears her throat to explain. "I meant that I'd made a bento for myself and the Genin I'd be traveling with. Would you like to stop at this clearing—"
"No," The man replies curtly. "There's water further ahead."
Sakura nodded once and followed behind without hesitation, even as the sun reached its highest peak in the sky. Though they were close to the border of Tea, where Fire Country's dense forest-like terrain gave way to rolling hills and valleys, the thickest part of the woods held what Sakura would call a treasure.
True to his word, the water was actually a lake. Small and clean, it provided sustenance to the towering trees that guarded it. There were a few signs of animal life—tracks in the mud, parted tree branches.
They ate in silence. Sakura would have thought she was alone, had she not kept glancing at her partner. A happy flutter danced around in her chest as she watched him eat her food.
Night had fallen fast. The black sheet that draped across the sky was a never-ending shadow, and when the moonlight could no longer guide them, they made a decision to stop and rest. Sasuke disappeared into the woods; Sakura busied herself with the bedding. It was a dusty routine from the past they still seemed to follow.
Sasuke's mind drifted as he gathered dry foliage. He had not traveled this way in a long while—not since he'd roamed with Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin. As he gathered dry foliage, Sasuke's mind retraced the paths they'd taken. He could travel straight through, this time, without having to hide his chakra or movements.
After filling up his canteens and gathering enough wood to start a fire, he walked back to the campsite, mildly surprised to see a blaze already blooming. Sakura stood over it, tending to the flames, almost close enough for them to lick her palms. It was obvious the woman had grown accustomed to working unaided. She'd already flattened the ground and spread out her bedroll.
The night air was cool—much too cool for the sleeveless shirt she wore. It was not long enough to cover her stomach. There was a good six inches of fishnet above the waistband of her skirt. The sides were high-slit, and would have exposed a majority of her upper legs, had she not worn a black pair of shorts that stopped mid-thigh. It was really no wonder she sat so close to the flames.
"More kindling?" She asked as he flicked his eyes away.
He does not answer, and instead drops the sticks into a pile nearby.
"So, I figure we can do a four-on-four-off shift. How does that sound?"
There was no real reason to have a lookout. Sasuke often slept through the night, albeit lightly, and they were far enough between villages that passersby would not stumble upon them unless they were lost.
Sasuke watched as Sakura cleared her throat, her dainty hand brushing against it. A memory invaded him—his hand wrapped around her neck, chidori crackling against his fingertips.
He exhaled sharply, the sound a stark contrast to the quiet night.
"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice, laced with concern, pulled him back to the present.
Perhaps she wasn't worried about passersby after all. She was a trained kunoichi and, although her smiles came easily and her voice sounded genuine, she was not the same young woman he'd studied in his youth.
They were strangers, and trust was a thinly woven thread. There was no reason for her to think that he wouldn't attack her in the night.
So he said, "I'll take the first watch."